Alignment of EU sanctions with UN Security Council Resolution 2397 against North Korea

Further information:

The decision was made at a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council.

The measures transposed by this decision include:

+ the strengthening of the export ban to the DPRK of all refined petroleum products;
+ a ban on imports from the DPRK of food and agricultural products, machinery, electrical equipment, earth and stone, and wood;
+ a ban on exports to the DPRK of all industrial machinery, transportation vehicles, and expansion to all iron, steel and other metals;
+ further maritime restrictive measures against vessels where there are reasonable grounds to believe that the vessel has been involved in the breach of UN sanctions;
+ the requirement to repatriate all DPRK workers abroad within 24 months, subject to applicable national and international law.

The full prohibition on the export of crude oil provided for in resolution 2397 (2017) had already been introduced in the EU on 16 October 2017. The additional listings imposed by the UNSC resolution 2397 (2017) were transposed into EU law on 8 January 2018.

Background information:

This resolution was adopted on 22 December 2017 in response to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear weapon and ballistic missile-development activities, with flagrant disregard for previous UN Security Council resolutions.

The Council of the European Union extended the EU's sanctions against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on 26 February 2018, finalising the alignment with the restrictive measures imposed by UN Security Council resolution 2397 (2017).